AIBU to wish that movies would stop giving villains disfigurements or scars?

[SpotandDot]

For full disclosure I haven't yet seen the new Bond Movie but yet again we have a villain with facial disfigurement/scarring. Why do so many movies have to use this as a sign of evil? It just enhances the stereotypes of people with disfigurements as evil or people to be feared. It's becoming terribly tedious.

AIBU?

I think that as long as you don't take everything you see on TV very literally and to heart, and teach your kids to do the same, it really doesn't matter. I don't think "fuck me! They must be evil because that's what the TV says!" if see somebody with a scar.
I think villains with scars are just a way of visually suggesting they've been in a load of scraps for being villainous. Just like many heroes have scars for being heroes! Deadpool for example.
On the subject of scars (unrelated to original topic) I immediately think of Tommy Flanagan, who's real scar adds so much character to his face, he is just gorgeous.

Also, it works in reverse. For example there is a character in ‘Mortal Engines’ by Philip Reeve (YA fiction), the main female character, who has a very scarred face in the books.
In the film she has a very small scar, kind of a pretty looking scar to make her look ‘better’ for the audience

Yes to this!

Hester is described as having a very pronounced facial disfigurement with scaring running from forehead to chin. It is a very central part of her character in terms of how people react to her and the options available to her. “Her mouth was wrenched sideways in a permanent sneer, her nose was a smashed stump, and her single eye stared at him out of the wreckage, as grey and chill as a winter sea”.

How fans imagined her from the descriptions in the books

How Hollywood cast her

I agree with you @SpotandDot.
Why is the "baddie" usually disfigured. It's so obvious and also very unhelpful and unkind to people in real life who have facial disfigurement and/or scarring.

@Shelddd

You sound like a lot of fun

There seems to be a thing on MN lately that when an OP starts a post discussing stereotyping and prejudice, some twat will come along and make out they have no sense of humour.

YADNBU - buys into the stereotype that anything other than beauty/perfection is bad/ugly.

@TheSockMonster

*Also, it works in reverse. For example there is a character in ‘Mortal Engines’ by Philip Reeve (YA fiction), the main female character, who has a very scarred face in the books. In the film she has a very small scar, kind of a pretty looking scar to make her look ‘better’ for the audience*

Yes to this!

Hester is described as having a very pronounced facial disfigurement with scaring running from forehead to chin. It is a very central part of her character in terms of how people react to her and the options available to her. “Her mouth was wrenched sideways in a permanent sneer, her nose was a smashed stump, and her single eye stared at him out of the wreckage, as grey and chill as a winter sea”.

How fans imagined her from the descriptions in the books

How Hollywood cast her

Hester is such an interesting complex character precisely because the horror of what happened to her and what it did to her face dictates loads of the plot and her subsequent behaviour. Making her disfigurement into a pretty little scar simply so people will come to the cinema made the film adaptation's version of the story completely meaningless.

You might guess I'm a bit of a Hester fangirl.

And we won't even talk about how they completely mangled the ending of the book thereby making any future adaptations completely impossible! Shame on you Jackson!

If you feel so strongly about it, why not start some sort of a legal petition?
Albino people did that with the Da Vinci Code movie - they demanded the evil character to not have red eyes, like in the book. ABecause albino people face enough abuse and precudice already, no need for popular culture to perpetuate that stereotype.

Though I have to say the imagined fan make up looks more like something from Alien on her face than a scar

The Witches film rightly got a lot of backlash.
It made no sense either - point of story is witches hide in plain sight so wigs, gloves etc.
My teen daughter was born without an upper limb. She was so shocked such a film could be made now. There’s been so much positive in recent years - contestant on strictly dancing, baking, master chef, CBeebies presenter etc she was just horrified why would anyone think that was ok. I hope the backlash does make future filmmakers think - it was shocking no one on a such a big budget film stopped and thought this isn’t ok.

Yanbu. It’s SO lame and pretty offensive. Why not just give the villain a cape to swirl and a moustache to twirl as well 🙄 lazy writing.

I much prefer to watch a handsome charming villain who’s only rotten inside. Much more realistic, and better at reminding people that evil can be found anywhere, even that charming politician or handsome boyfriend…

@eandz13

I think that as long as you don't take everything you see on TV very literally and to heart, and teach your kids to do the same, it really doesn't matter. I don't think "fuck me! They must be evil because that's what the TV says!" if see somebody with a scar. I think villains with scars are just a way of visually suggesting they've been in a load of scraps for being villainous. Just like many heroes have scars for being heroes! Deadpool for example. On the subject of scars (unrelated to original topic) I immediately think of Tommy Flanagan, who's real scar adds so much character to his face, he is just gorgeous.

People with facial disfigurements deal with bullying, abuse and prejudice in real life, sometimes on a daily basis. Evil characters with facial disfigurements give bullies extra ammunition and reinforce stereotypes, as well as making people with disfigurements feel shit about themselves. They're not harmless.

YABU, they're just films. Villains can have scars and disfigurements too, just as much as normal people can. In fact a villain is more likely to suffer from this because they are more likely to have been involved in violence than the average person.

The problem is people bullying or harrassing others - not some made-up character's physical appearance.

www.changingfaces.org.uk/news/open-letter-to-bond-producers/

www.changingfaces.org.uk/get-involved/campaign-with-us/i-am-not-your-villian/

These links might be helpful for those who think it's all harmless.

I bet it does suck.

I had a love-hate relationship with Spielberg when I was a kid, loved his movies but there was always some asthmatic kid taking an inhaler whenever something scary was about to happen. He was like a one man crusade to make out we were all medicating drama queens. Dick.

@HarrietsChariot

YABU, they're just films. Villains can have scars and disfigurements too, just as much as normal people can. In fact a villain is more likely to suffer from this because they are more likely to have been involved in violence than the average person.

The problem is people bullying or harrassing others - not some made-up character's physical appearance.

But the physical appearances of fictional characters contribute to bullying and harassment, for instance being called names that are linked to fictional characters. You can't just separate these points.

@LaMagdalena there are lots and lots of people who get bullied everyday because bullies are twats. It's not because the TV has made them do this.
Red heads still get bullied! Do you blame Fizz off Coronation street for that because her character can come across as annoying? Or is it because bullies are just bullies?
Evil characters on TV shows are often gothic looking, black hair, dark eyes, pale skin etc. Should that all be cancelled too?
My point is I believe that kids being taught to be accepting and understanding, and understand make believe from real life apparently the more effect it will have than just cancelling everything.

Yanbu, I wasn't aware of the problem with it until I started following Jono Lancaster on IG who has been campaigning for facial difference acceptance and equality.

Halloween costumes with scars really annoy me. Scars are not a prop or short hand for evil. They aren't scary. By linking them with scary they cause real problems for kids.

Yanbu. I think this is changing now in general albeit perhaps not in Hollywood.
Noted Dany in thrones was meant to lose her hair whenever she got set on fire but on the show she only lost her clothes. Also tyrion was meant to have his nose cut off but HBO just gave him a rugged scar.

[quote eandz13]@LaMagdalena there are lots and lots of people who get bullied everyday because bullies are twats. It's not because the TV has made them do this.
Red heads still get bullied! Do you blame Fizz off Coronation street for that because her character can come across as annoying? Or is it because bullies are just bullies?
Evil characters on TV shows are often gothic looking, black hair, dark eyes, pale skin etc. Should that all be cancelled too?
My point is I believe that kids being taught to be accepting and understanding, and understand make believe from real life apparently the more effect it will have than just cancelling everything. [/quote]
Having a facial disfigurement is different to having black hair or dark eyes, it carries a lot of stigma which these representations reinforce. Having red hair has a weird stigma but I have no experience of it so I'm not going to speak for people with red hair.

It's difficult enough living life with a facial disfigurement sometimes without yet another evil person being shown with one and dealing with the associated bullying. While we'd all love to live in a world without bullying and harassment, we do not, so maybe the people in charge of making these films should be more mindful of that. I haven't mentioned 'cancelling' anything, but villains with facial disfigurements are already well-represented, why do we need more?

@HarrietsChariot

YABU, they're just films. Villains can have scars and disfigurements too, just as much as normal people can. In fact a villain is more likely to suffer from this because they are more likely to have been involved in violence than the average person.

The problem is people bullying or harrassing others - not some made-up character's physical appearance.

As I said to another poster above, many of the "goodies" in films have many violent encounters - Bond, Bourne, Reacher etc. James Bond has near death extreme violence several times in each film; but, like the others has no scars. Why? Because "good", therefore good-looking

The evil nemeses, conversely, tend to be less involved in violence in these situations as they have henchmen doing all their dirty work, but still they have scars, have a bodily difference, or are ugly, because "bad". (Also )

It's ridiculous to suggest otherwise.

I can't believe some posters just aren't getting this

All those people who don't get it - say you're born with a disability. Then say every portrayal of your disability you ever see is negative. Then say that you get bullied at school, and treated differently at work because of your disability. Then say a film comes out in which the evil main character has a feature that's very similar to your disability which is literally one of the visible markers that they are evil. You can't see how that would be a problem?

The BFI for example no longer funds films which use facial disfigurement as a shorthand for villainy.

Would be interested in others thoughts - I thought The Dark Knight and the ‘stories’ of the Joker’s scars was a really interesting twist on the cliché but I’m also a massive comic book nerd and you still have that visual shorthand…